The green trend continues – how are coal-based olefin companies performing?

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The green trend continues – how are coal-based olefin companies performing? Author/Source: Date: 2017-10-25 Clicks: 15 Environmental issues have once again come to the forefront; there are rumors in the market that oil refining companies will reduce or suspend production. During such periods, these companies are not allowed to carry out any production or business activities, their combustion facilities must be shut down, and measures must be taken to ensure that air pollution control systems are operating properly. As soon as the news came out, it caused a great uproar. Can environmental protection cause a stir in the supply side of the polypropylene market? What is the impact of coal-based olefin companies, which were in the spotlight before,? At present, in the northwest region, aside from the shutdowns at Yanchang Yueneng Chemical/Zhongtian Hechuang/Pucheng Clean Energy Projects, most coal-based olefin plants are operating well. Due to maintenance work on upstream facilities, Yueneng Chemical reduces production capacity or shuts down some of its production lines for PP ； Due to maintenance work on upstream equipment, there was a shortage of raw materials, resulting in the shutdown of some PP production lines at Zhongtian Hechuang. http://img.yf116.cn/image/img/20171025/1541435650344.jpg Among the many enterprises that produce olefins from coal, the Shenhua Yulin project primarily includes methanol-to-olefins units, olefin separation units, polyethylene production units, and polypropylene production units. Methanol is mostly purchased from external suppliers; the methanol plants with which long-term cooperation exists in the surrounding area include Shenmu with a production capacity of 600,000 tons, Yankuang with 600,000 tons, and Kaiyue with 600,000 tons, which are sufficient to meet the procurement needs. China Coal Yulin is a facility for producing methanol from coal, olefins from methanol, and polyethylene and polypropylene through olefin separation. The company has two sets of equipment for producing methanol from coal and olefins from methanol; maintenance is usually planned in advance based on the operating conditions of these machines, as production remains relatively stable on a regular basis. If there is a short-term shortage of methanol, external procurement will be carried out for maintenance purposes; similarly, if olefins production stops temporarily, those products will be sold externally – these are all short-term measures. It is convenient to purchase methanol in the area surrounding China Coal Mengda; basically, methanol is sourced from external suppliers for the production of polyolefins. A major overhaul was carried out last June, and the next one is expected in 3 years. There are generally no minor repairs, and environmental regulations have not had any impact on operations so far. Overall, environmental regulations have a limited impact on polypropylene manufacturers; unless there are special factors such as disruptions in the supply of methanol as a raw material, these companies are willing to continue operating at full capacity. The major maintenance activities on the production facilities have been completed, and it is expected that production levels will remain high in the future, with a normal supply of polypropylene raw materials.